BANGKOK: Thai "Red Shirts" were set to rally in Bangkok and Chiang Mai Sunday to mark four years since a coup ousted Thaksin Shinawatra and commemorating those slain in a May crackdown on their protest.
Authorities do not expect violence, but will keep security tight, with army-led command centres in both cities monitoring events and several thousand police deployed in Bangkok near the heart of April and May`s deadly rallies.
Red leaders expect 10,000 protesters to join the demonstration in Chiang Mai -- the former stronghold of the fugitive former prime minister who was toppled from power in 2006 -- compared to an official estimate of 1,000.
In the Thai capital another group of Reds will gather at Ratchaprasong intersection, the focus of their two-month protest, during which 91 people were killed and nearly 1,900 were injured.
The Bangkok protesters plan to release 10,000 red balloons in remembrance of those who died or were injured on May 19, when the army brought a bloody end to the unrest.
The Reds`hero Thaksin, who lives abroad to escape a jail term for corruption, called on his followers via Twitter to avoid further violence ahead of the double anniversary.
"I want everyone to look to the future. I want to see the healing of people who suffered from the conflict. I want to see people forgive each other," he said, adding that he was currently in Lebanon.
Sunday`s demonstrations cap a series of events held by the Red Shirts over the weekend.
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, leader of one Red faction, travelled to the northern city of Chiang Mai on Saturday in a convoy of about 80 vehicles.
He said the rallies would call for authorities to free all political prisoners, reform the courts with the introduction of a jury system, as well as other land and economic measures.
On Friday, demonstrators, wearing their signature colour and singing the "Red in the Land" anthem, converged in front of the Bangkok remand prison, where key leaders are being held on terrorism charges related to the unrest.
All 19 senior Reds jailed for having key roles in the two-month protest, which brought Bangkok`s retail heart to a standstill, are held at the prison. None has been convicted of any crime in relation to that protest.
Bangkok, which is still under a state of emergency along with six other provinces, will have one army-run command centre and another will be set up in Chiang Mai, although the decree has been lifted there.
About 900 police will be in charge of the Chiang Mai rally, according to the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), which oversees emergency rule in response to the unrest.
Five companies of soldiers -- about 350 troops -- would also be on standby, authorities said.
In Bangkok, the Metropolitan Police have said there would be about 100 checkpoints in the city Sunday and around 3,000 plainclothes and uniformed officers would be mobilised.
Deputy prime minister Suthep Thuagsuban said rally leaders had been briefed on what they are permitted to do during the demonstrations.
"If protesters cooperate, there is likely to be no problem," he said.
Thailand`s colour-coded politics have revealed deep divides in the country, with the mostly poor, working class Reds at one end of the spectrum and royalist Yellow Shirts, backed by the Bangkok-based elite, at the other.
The Yellows detest Thaksin and their 2006 rallies helped trigger the coup that toppled him.
BDST: 1105 HRS, September 19, 2010
